A Friends like a Charm
by peacelovebooks23
Summary: Rigspelt, Jane/Lisbon and of course Cho .Grace's old friend is murdered while Wayne meets her family. Everyone meets Grace's family, and they have to investigate the murder as well. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

The Mentalist:

Chapter 1.

Agent Grace Van Pelt walked out of the CBI building to her car on the east side of the parking lot. Her pulse started to quicken as it usually does when she and Wayne arrange secret meetings to see each other. She grabbed the keys out of her black leather purse, unlocked the car and got inside. The lot was vacant except for the new security guy Timmy. Seeing her, he waved and walked over.

"Hey Grace!" he said a little too enthusiastically. She rolled down the window and shifted in her seat.

"Oh, hey Timmy." She said.

Timmy stared intently at Grace admiring her long red hair that was flowing past her shoulders. He tried to give her his most charming smile, but what came of it were a set of yellowed uneven teeth. Seeing this, Grace slouched a bit in her seat trying to make herself invisible so she wouldn't have to deal with freaks staring at her. He started talking about the weather but Grace lost focus when she saw Wayne walk out of the building.

Ever since they had started secretly dating, Grace couldn't stop thinking about him. When she first joined CBI she knew he had a crush on her and she was attracted to him, but she knew a relationship between them would never happen. If someone caught them, one of them would be suspended and have to leave the unit. Grace being a junior agent, knew that if one of them would be kicked out, it would be her. She stared at him taking long strides towards her car. When he came up behind Timmy he tapped him on the back.

"Could you give me a moment with agent Van Pelt? I need to discuss with her an issue from a homicide case we are working on." He said staring him down.

Timmy cringed a little and nodded his head. He turned and ran across the lot, turning back to look at agent Rigsby with looks of fear.

"Hey" he said.

"Hey" Grace said back.

Wayne leaned forward to give her a kiss but she stopped him and pointed to the security cameras nailed to the lamp posts.

"Oh, right" he said looking sheepish.

"Get in your car and drive to your apartment and I'll park a few blocks away and I'll meet you there."

"You got it."

He turned around and walked to the other side of the parking lot were his car was parked. Grace started the car and let her mind wander as she followed Wayne through the city.

There was something that she wanted to ask him. Something big, that might take their relationship to the next level. She was up all last night debating if she should even invite him along. It was too scary to take the risk of rejection. She had never been quite good at handling it. But on the other side, there was a chance that he would say yes. Thinking this made Grace feel much happier and excited to ask him.

She finally arrived a block away from his apartment, and started the walk towards it. Whenever they did this (which was pretty often) Grace would always glance behind her back and look to the sides to see if anyone was watching her. She was sure that Jane or Lisben or Cho would pop at the next corner and ask her were she was going at such late at night, and near Rigsby's apartment. Wayne kept saying that he thinks Jane knows about their relationship, but she's sure he's paranoid. Even a guy like Jane can see that there is nothing between them at work. They hide it so well. They almost never talk to each other unless forced to about an investigation, and they always keep a safe distance from each other.

She finally reached Wayne's apartment, and started walking up the stairs to the third floor. When she reached door number 23 she raised her fist to knock on the door, but Wayne already came and opened it before she got the chance.

"Were you spying on me from the window?" She asked, pointing at the window that overlooked the street.

"No" he said, but blushed a deep crimson red.

"Well I think it's cute, you couldn't wait for me to come." She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He smiled back and closed the door behind them. They were already kissing like to loved crazed teenagers. Wayne wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her so deeply she had to stop their embrace so she could breath. They made their way slowly to the bed, removing articles of clothes on the way. When they finally reached the bedroom they fell on the bed together in a big heap, and started laughing. Wayne wrapped his arms around her, and she around him, and they kissed until their lips were sore.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

(Grace's point of view)

I opened my eyes and let them adjust to the darkness of the room. The window was slightly ajar, letting a light cold wind come through. I shivered involuntarily and moved closer to Wayne to keep warmth. I turned around so that I was facing him, and stared at his sleeping face. I wrapped both my arms around him and leaned close until my face was smack into his chest. He smelled of soap and my perfume, making a delicious mixture in my noise. I felt him move and wrap his arms around me, kissing me slightly on the head.

"You awake." He grumbled half asleep.

"Yeah" I replied looking at him slowly opening his eyes.

"Well why are you awake at" He shifted reaching the alarm clock past my head, "At three in the morning."

"Guess I couldn't sleep." I said, thinking about what I have to ask him sometime soon.

"What's wrong?"

"Well I um." I babbled not knowing how to start.

He bent down and kissed my nose.

"You know" he said kissing my cheek.

"That you" he moved to my other cheek.

"Can tell me" he said moving down to my chin.

"Anything" he said kissing me on the mouth. The kiss lasted a while. I could feel his hot breath, his muscles flexing as he hugged me tighter, and kissed me even more deeply.

I pushed his chest, releasing me from his embrace and flopped onto my back looking at the white ceiling. Wayne rested his elbow onto the bed, his hand holding his face. He looked like a model posing with the blanket covering his middle. I laughed at this, imagining him strutting down a catwalk.

"What's so funny?" He smiled.

"Nothing" I said trying to stop smiling.

"I need to ask you something." I said.

"Yeah?"

"Well since we just got a break from work I'm heading down to see my family." I said. I looked over and saw his face slowly understanding what I'm about to say.

"And since we've been dating for a while now, I was wondering if you wanted to come and meet them with me?" I closed my eyes, to scared to see his expression.

He gently opened my eyes with his fingers, a smiling spreading across his face.

"I'd love to meet your family Grace." He said

"Really?" I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Of course! I was going to ask you to meet mine as well but kept on chickening out all the time. I can't wait to see your baby pictures." He laughed giving me a small peck on the mouth.

"Now we better get some sleep so I don't look like all weird in front of your folks."

I let him wrap his arms around me and moved to the side to lay my head. I was happy that for once things finally went my way. As I was just on the verge of sleep something crossed my mind. What if my family doesn't like him? I was up the rest of the night freaking out.

After showering I walked into Wayne's kitchen and made us some coffee. His kitchen was a small crappy one, but it still gave you a homey feeling when you walked inside. He tried to paint it a soothing yellow to bring in the sun from the windows, but this only showed more of the cracks and stains on the walls.

"Did you finish packing?" I yelled.

"Almost done!" he screamed back.

I opened his fridge which half was filled with expired products. There was some cream cheese, and there were some bagels left from yesterday morning. I grabbed an everything bagel, slathered it with as much cream cheese as possible, and sat at the table eating, drinking and reading the newspaper.

There was an article about a serial killer on the Eastern side of the country. It described his murdered as bloody and excruciating. He always killed his victims in the same way; slicing of the throat, and cutting one of their legs off.

I was just flipping to the next page when Wayne walked in with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt I told him looks good with his eyes. He smiled at me and grabbed the cup of coffee I had made for him.

"Do you want to go to your place to pick up your luggage and then we'll get going."

"Sounds good." I said

I walked back into the bedroom to take my clothes from last night. Since we stay at each others so often, we usually have extra clothes stashed in the closets. We walked out together of the apartment; the only sound was coming form the wheels of his suitcase. I could tell he was scared to meet my family, and I was scared for them to meet his.

When we got to my apartment, I took my time to retrieve my suitcase. I looked out my window every so often to check how Wayne was doing. He was freaking out even more than I was. I could tell this would be a very long two hours.

When I finally felt ready to go downstairs, Wayne seemed to have calmed down. I got into the car, my suitcase sitting in the back seat. He looked at me with the cutest look and placed his hand on mine.

"It'll be okay." He said.

And I believed him.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Just to let you guys know, the rest of the CBI team will most likely join into the investigation that is going to occur. I also changed some facts about Grace's family, like how she's a small town girl and all that. I'm trying to update as many chapters as possible. Keep tuning in!!

Chapter 3:

(Grace's point of view)

"Come on Grace we've been sitting here for over thirty minutes." Wayne wined.

I still didn't have the nerve to get out of the car to face my family. I could just imagine all the different ways they could embarrass and torment me in front of Wayne. Knowing Wayne, I know he wouldn't think less of me, but I would be mad as hell.

"Fine." I said not too willingly and got out of the car. We left the luggage in the car, so I could make my brothers get it if they bothered me. Walking up the old brick path sparked different memories from my childhood. One time my brothers and I were playing assassin on the front lawn, and Chad, the oldest of my three brothers, knocked me down on the path so hard that I broke three different bones in my right arm. I wouldn't talk to him for over a month but we finally made up like we always do.

As I came to knock on the front door I could hear the sound of my father's laughter bellowing inside the house. I slowly lowered my hand and took a step back, not ready to face the heavy crowd that awaited me.

"Grace you can do this." Wayne said grabbing my shoulders and slightly shaking them.

"You can not believe how scared I am. I'm the one that never met them! You should be happy to see them. Come on, I'll knock on the door if it will make you feel better." He said knocking on the door twice.

The house quieted down, and I could here someone whisper "It's them".

We could hear the locks turning and then it flung open to reveal my dad in his San Diego Chargers jersey.

"Gracey!" He yelled and flung me into the air with his big powerful hands.

"Oh darling we've missed you so much. My, my what a hunk of a boyfriend have you got here sweet cakes." said my twenty eight year old stepmother Leanne, blowing me air kisses, and batting her eyelashes at Wayne. She and my dad met in a café two years ago and have "fallen in love" ever since.

I walked through the door trying to squeeze through the enormous amount of kisses being planted on my cheeks, and relatives yelling there hellos. I turned to see how Wayne was doing, and could see he was getting even more attention than I was. His face turned red as one of Leanne's friends whispered something in his ear and smacked his butt. He looked up at me as he heard my laugh and joined in soon afterwards. I had finally reached the living room were my grandmother Sylvia was sitting watching the football game on the T.V. Her old wrinkled face smiled at me as she saw me come towards her.

"Ah Shelly, I thought you'd never come. Come on, I saved a spot just for you." She said. I froze and looked at her.

"Sylvie, it's me Grace." I whispered and sat next to her on the tattered old couch. She took her thin hands and moved them across my face, scrutinizing me with her dark brown eyes.

"Oh Grace, it is you. But where's Shelly." She asked, a confused look spreading across her face.

"Mo- I mean Shelly dead Sylvie." I said trying to hold back the tears.

"Oh, yes, yes of course." She said looking away in confusement.

"Why is it that I'm getting so much bad energy from here?" Somebody said from my left. I turned around and saw *Yolanda standing beside me with a colorful scarf wrapped around her head. She wore a long ebony dress with a purple belt around her waist. A pair of gold sandals peeked from under her dress, and four different ankle bracelets. Her skin was still as tan as the last time I saw her, and she added a piercing in her nose to the numerous other ones she has in her ears.

"YOLANDA!" I screamed colliding into her. She wrapped her thin arms around me and squeezed me back. I could smell the familiar aroma of scented candles and Thai food that always seemed to cling to her clothes. Out of all my cousins, Yolanda is the only one I actually like and is friends with. Since she lives in Nevada I don't see her too often, so at these rare moments when we do meet, it's hard to separate us.

"What are you doing here?" I asked surprised by her presence.

"Well I heard you have a new boyfriend" she said in a sing song voice. "And I had to meet him and see if I approve of someone to take my dear Gracey's heart."

I laughed and hugged her again, happy that one thing was going well so far.

"Okay, I've got to go and check on Wayne. I don't want another one of Leanne's friends to hit on him."

"Jealous much?" Wayne said coming from the side and holding my hand.

"What this cute little girl, no guy could be good enough to make her jealous." Gerald said running from behind me and lifting me up like dad did before.

"Ugh, Gerald let go of me!" I yelped but smiled anyway.

"How are you cutie?" he asked giving me a normal hug this time.

"Oh, I'm fine. Gerald this is Wayne Rigsby, Wayne this is my brother Gerald." I looked at them shaking hands, both of them feeling uncomfortable in each other's present. Gerald was the only one of my brothers who wanted to impress my father so much that he actually became a football player. My father had been coaching the high school and college football teams every since I was a little girl and Gerald played on both of them. He was a big shot NFL player but had a heart of gold. There was never one family reunion he ever missed, and he tried to call every one of our relatives at least once a week. I could see Gerald scrutinizing Wayne. They were both about the same height and size, muscular but not in an unhealthy way. The four of us stood there, an awkward silence that could not be ignored. When Gerald saw that Yolanda was standing with us he took the chance to hug her and try to get a conversation going.

"Would you guys excuse us, I still haven't introduced everyone to Wayne." I said grabbing his hand and dragging him to an empty corner.

"So, who did you meet so far?"

"Well Leanne's friends have been very kind." he said trying to make me envious.

"And I sat with your dad who interrogated me for what seemed like hours. I talked to some of your cousins and aunts and uncles but that's about it."

"But you know what I really want to see now?" he asked me wiggling his eyebrows.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Your room." He said kissing my neck.

"Okay" I giggled "But don't kiss me in front of my family, they'd never stop making fun of me."

I seized his hand and led him through the hallway to where my bedroom was at the last door to the left. The door was still painted with my name across it and the date that I had wrote it. My bedroom looked about the same as it had when I left. The mahogany bed still had the white net draped over it with the pink pillows with little flowers sewn into them. My desk still contained all the notebooks I had written in and the yearbooks from all my years at school. The bookcase I had so carefully picked out was layered with a fine coat of dust, and it contained only half of the books I hadn't taken with me. There were some posters of Nirvana, The Backstreet Boys and other bands I had listened to from the 90's. Wayne laughed as he saw a picture of me at twelve with a mouthful of braces, smiling for the camera so they could see every single one.

"Oh come on, I was so little back then." I said taking the picture away from him.

"You know, we should come here more often. Besides your family attacking me at all possible hours, I love learning every little thing from your past." I tried to give him my best smile, not so happy that he wants to know everything from my past. What if there would be something he doesn't like?

Before I could say anything else he stepped forward and kissed me, wrapping his arms around me. My thoughts soon evaporated as I couldn't think straight when he kisses me. He laid me gently on the bed moving his hand onto my leg, caressing it slowly. I heard a noise coming from somewhere, but ignored it and tried to focus on Wayne.

"Echem" someone coughed from the corner of the room. Wayne released his hold on me and stood up very quickly. I looked to the side and saw my two other brothers, Chad and Derek folding their arms in disapprovement.

"Oh, hey guys, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Well I think I should ask you guys the same question." Chad said. I could feel my face burning of humiliation.

"Well I was just showing Wayne my room." I said not sounding to convincing.

"Ah ha." Derek said glaring at Wayne through his bright green eyes.

"Well alright, I'll talk to you guys later." I said and grabbed Wayne as we made yet another escape.

"Oh, and I almost forgot. Our luggage is in the car, if you could get it please." I said looking at their annoyed faces as Wayne and I faced the crowd again.

*If you remember, Yolanda is Grace's psychic cousin who Jane did not believe was actually psychic and Grace argued the point many times.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Whoever reads please review and give me your honest opinion, and tell your friends!!! :)

Chapter 4:

(Wayne's point of view)

I stepped outside of the house to the enormous backyard that was now packed with Grace's family. There were a few people who had the same of Grace's long beautiful hair. It was hard to find her in the swarm of people that were roaming around aimlessly. I finally found a picnic table that contained some of Grace's family that I had already met and talked too.

"Hi there baby doll." said one of Leanne's friends, Mary Sue, before I could get to the table.

"Oh hi Mary." I said uncomfortably trying to walk away from her, but she wouldn't give up.

"Ya know, I got me a room at the hotel near by if you wanna go take a look at it, if ya know what I mean." She said winking and laying her hand lightly on my chest.

"Well I think that that's a great idea." I said. Her face brightened and she smiled at me in excitement.

"Meet me at the hotel in ten minutes, I'll try to trick Grace into giving me the keys to her car." I whispered and smiled at her. She let out a girlish giggle and went running into the house. When I looked up again I saw Grace standing next to me glaring through her long dark eyelashes.

"So you're going to ditch me and leave with that skank?" she asked, looking as if she was on the brink of tears.

"No of course not." I said trying to comfort her.

"I just said that so she'd get away from me. Imagine her surprise when she gets stood up probably by the first guy ever." I said laughing.

"So you're implying that she gets any guy, saying that she's beautiful." Grace crossed her arms and composed her face so it didn't reveal anything.

"No, of course not! I was just sick of her always hanging around me, and I thought you hated Leanne and all of her friends so I did it for your satisfaction as well." I threw my arms up exhausted by having to explain myself all the time.

With that she smiled and hugged me slightly, only to be reminded that the rest of her family was around. She pushed me gently but still let me hold one of her hands. She led me forward towards a picnic table were Yolanda, Leanne, Chad, Gerald, Derek and Grace's dad Jeff were sitting. Everyone moved slightly trying to fit us all in. The table grew quieter, as it always did when I joined. I could tell by the look on Jeff's face that Derek and Chad had filled him in on the whole bedroom fiasco. He glared at me as if to say "You do that to my daughter and I'll send you to the darkest pits of hell." I squirmed a little in my seat, obvious to everyone how awkward I felt. I guess Grace saw the look her dad gave me since she murmured "Dad" and looked at him through angry eyes.

"Where are my manners? Wayne would you like a hamburger?" He asked plastering a fake smile on his face and setting a burger onto my plate before I could answer. I smiled in politeness but didn't know what to do next since I suddenly felt very queasy. I looked around the table trying to find someone to pick up a conversation with. Yolanda sat at the far end of the table picking at her nails, also obvious to the unpleasantness of the table.

"So Yolanda, Grace tells me you're a physic?" I said picking at the coleslaw salad that was on my plate.

"Oh yeah, I have a little shop in Las Vegas." She said bobbing her head. From the looks of almost everyone except Grace, they obviously disapproved of her work.

"When are you going to stop all that mambo jumbo you call 'looking into the future'?" Jeff said. Yolanda's nostrils flared as she looked at him with her mouth set in an ugly frown. He slathered ketchup onto his hamburger and reached passed Leanne to reach the jar of pickles' unaware of Yolanda's expression. Grace's brothers nodded in agreement, probably too scared of say something to upset their father. They bent their heads over their plates and ate their food in silence.

Out of nowhere a tall beautiful woman walked up behind Derek and patted him on the back. Her wavy blonde hair was tied into a messy braid that was slung carelessly over her shoulder. She wore a purple tank top with white shorts that showed off her long tan legs. As she looked at Derek her light blue eyes sparkled from the sun that shined on her face.

"Macey needs a diaper change and I have to get Liam something from the car." She said.

"Yeah sure." He agreed to willingly, which created an expression of confusedness across her face. She smiled showing of a pair of perfect white teeth that shined just as much as her eyes. Grace hit me lightly on my arm, obvious to how much I was gaping at the woman that stood before me. She looked up and met my eyes smiling and walked towards Grace and me.

"Oh hi, you must be Wayne, Grace's new boyfriend. I've heard so much about you." She said shaking my hand.

"It's nice to meet you too." I whispered too in awe of her beauty. She turned abruptly and walked around the house with her car keys swinging in her hand. I was shocked at how a guy like Derek could get a girl like that. He wasn't a model but he wasn't that good looking either. I was surprised of his looks, since most of Grace's family was pretty good looking. On the drive over Grace told me that ever since he was twenty, he started putting money in the stock market, and had pretty good luck ever since. Just like his dad, both women probably married them only for there money. I felt bad for them, but that feeling soon went away as I remembered how crudely they were treating me.

I looked over at Grace who was quietly nibbling on a piece of her hot dog. Everyone had put so much food on the table that they kept on urging her to take more and more. I put my hand on her knee under the table and moved my thumb in slow circles.

"Yolanda, did Grace tell you about Jane?" I asked. Grace spun her head quickly towards me and made hand motions as if to tell me not to talk.

"Why not?" I asked surprised at her reaction.

"Who's Jane?" Yolanda asked Grace, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"Um… Patrick Jane is just a consultant on our team." She said quietly not making eye contact with anyone.

"Grace?" Yolanda asked in an unapproving voice. I could hear her foot tapping under the table in irritation.

"Well he can sort of know things about people just by looking at them and talking to them for a little bit." She said.

"Oh! And don't forget the smelling." I said. Everyone looked at me as if I was insane.

"No, no, he sometimes smells the victims at the murder scene. I know it's weird but he closes cases." I chuckled remembering Lisben saying that all the time.

"There's something you're not telling me." Yolanda said.

"I can feel your scared, go ahead and say it already. I won't bite."

"Well he doesn't really believe physics exist." Grace said looking away from Yolanda.

"What!" she screamed standing up.

"How can he even say something like that? Of course we exist! I'm here aren't I?" She said storming off. As she walked she mumbled under her breath that if she ever see's him she'll teach him a lesson. Grace looked over at me frustrated and angry. She massaged her temples and rested her head on her hands. I could tell this trip was making her angrier by the second. I shut my mouth not wanting to say something to annoy her even more.

"Oh my, this family get together has made everyone go crazy!" Leanne laughed as everyone sat stoned faced and unmoving.

"Well since this party ain't any fun, I think I'll just head over to the spa to get me a facial! Darling I need money." She said sticking her hand out in front of Jeff's face. He pulled out a worn leather wallet from his back pocket and pulled out three hundred dollar bills. Leanne grabbed them quickly and left the table. Chad and Gerald obvious to the fact that almost half the table was gone, took the chance to go as well.

"Were gonna go get some beers dad, you want one?" Chad asked. Jeff nodded his head in agreement and off where the brothers to creep as far away from their family as possible. They were gone before I could even ask for one myself. I knew if I did ask they would probably "forget" to bring it any way. It was just Grace, her dad and I left sitting in silence. I looked around at the kids in their bathing suits jumping over the sprinklers. There were about a dozen of them, all sizes playing together. The yard led into a forest that seemed to go on forever. Grace told me that she had once actually got lost in them, and nobody could find her for hours. I imagined myself running in aimless circles inside the forest not knowing how to get out. What scared me even more was the idea that it was Grace stuck in the forest instead of me. My mind wandered on as I imagined all the scenario's Grace could have been in when she lightly tapped my hand.

"You want to take a walk? I could show you around the neighborhood?" Grace asked.

"Yeah sure." I said standing up and saying bye to her father. He looked up slightly, but went back to the pile of food that still sat on his plate. I turned and followed Grace to the side of the house and onto the brick path we had come from when we first got to her house.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Just saw the new episode of mentalist! So angry Van Pelt and Rigsby broke up! I think and hope they'll get back together soon and maybe Hightower will give them a break and let them stay on the unit and be together (unlikely). I'm going to pretend (in the story) that they never broke up, and this vacation is taking place between episodes in the beginning of season two. Enjoy and PLEASE review!

Chapter 5:

Grace and Wayne walked around her old neighborhood. Every once in a while she would point out a house or two, and explain to him about the friend that lived there. Summer had just ended, and the tree's turned to a beautiful red and golden color. A leaf would fall sometimes on Grace's hair, and Wayne would pick them out, counting as the number of leaves grew. He looked up suspiciously, and saw many kids hanging around in the trees, shaking them fiercely.

"What are those kids doing?" He asked pointing towards the kids that swung on the trees like monkeys.

"Oh, that's this game that we used to play when we were kids. You were supposed to climb on the trees and try not to fall off. After a while you had to start moving around and shake the tree and the last person to fall wins." She said smiling, waving at the little kids.

He smiled, amused at the game and continued to walk with Grace until they reached the shops that were located near her house. They entered a little café, and ordered two coffees and a muffin. Wayne went over and sat down at a small table next to the window. Outside there were many people roaming the streets with shopping bags, strollers and purses. There were only a couple of men in suits and briefcases talking on their cell phones rapidly. The traffic was flowing calmly when a gray hybrid zoomed from the left and drove through a red light causing the many drivers who were turning to push on their brakes and honk their horns in annoyance. A few minutes after the car was gone, the traffic continued to stream as it did before. He could see a few moms yelling at their children because they almost crossed the street when the car whooshed by.

"Here's your coffee." Grace said, trying to steady all the objects onto the small rocking table.

"Thanks." He said taking a small sip and burning his tongue.

"Olch thamit." He screamed holding onto his tongue.

"Wayne!" She whispered a bit too loudly. He kept screaming oblivious of her talking.

"Stop screaming, everyone's staring." She said lowering her voice so it was almost impossible for anyone at a different table to hear.

He looked up to see the whole café hushed in silence, staring at Grace and himself.

"Sorry 'bout that." He said raising his arm slightly. He looked back at Grace and smiled warmly grabbing her hand.

"Don't scream like that again, half these people know me, and you know I hate it when people embarrass me." She said in her normal voice as the café went back to its normal chatter.

He nodded and blew on his coffee before he sipped it again. They shared the blueberry muffin and talked about everything. As they talked their heads began to move closer together, both of them unaware of it. The time flew by and they continued to talk happy to be away from Grace's family. They were so unaware of anything around them, that they didn't see a man squishing his face onto the glass window right besides them. Grace moved her head slightly to look outside when she saw Jane's face right on the window. She screamed and put her hand to her chest trying to breathe normally. At the sight of Jane, Wayne jumped back to his seat, trying to make them look casual, instead of on a date. Jane smiled brightly, waved and walked inside. As he walked to their table, he grabbed a chair and sat down on it backwards.

"So, what have we got here?" He smiled pointing at the two of them. Wayne crossed his arms and glanced outside, looking very guilty. Grace on the other hand lowered her head slowly, her face burning red.

"Okay, I know you guys are together, I mean the whole building knows, but don't worry, Lisbon doesn't know a thing, and I won't tell her." He whispered. Wayne had never seen Jane be so straightforward before. Grace looked up at Jane and smiled thankfully.

"Since we have that straitened out," he said rubbing his hands together. "Why are you two here?"

"Well shouldn't we be asking you why you're here?" Grace asked looking at him curiously.

"Well I'm here for an investigation of course, and getting to know this charming town. You know it reminds me a lot of you." He said looking at Grace in concentration.

"You came here to visit your family didn't you? Your makeup is very well done, and that's a charming dress. New isn't it? You wanted to make a good impression on your family, but you've got dark rings under your eye which shows you're tired and you look quite upset, but that just might be because I'm here. Your family's a pain in the ass, and they didn't make you feel better even though you came to show them your new boyfriend." He said smirking in satisfaction. His usual vest and jacket was quite different than all the other people in the café. While he looked business like and cool, they all wore their summer clothes and plain t-shirt trying to soak in the warmness before winter began.

Wayne looked at Jane in irritation and tried to think of some way to get him to leave before he asked them to go to the crime scene and work on their vacation.

"You know you won't be able to get rid of me Rigsby, and yes I will ask you to join the investigation, although you can just come to the scene and help Lisbon and Cho a bit. She's been quite cranky lately and I don't even know why." Patrick said resting his head on his hand.

Wayne looked at Grace to see what she said. She shrugged in boredom and got up to go outside. They both followed her outside the café and stood outside not knowing were to go.

"How did you get here Jane?" Grace asked.

"Oh, I walked." He said strolling down the street.

"Well how long is it from here?" Wayne asked following him.

"About eight miles." He said casually smiling at a baby in a stroller.

Wayne and Grace groaned in frustration but followed him to the crime scene.

When they arrived at the scene two and a half hours later Wayne and Grace were out of breath. The murder scene was in the forest that circled the small town Grace had grown up in. It was easy to get lost in, as Grace did when she was younger. As they saw the familiar people that usually came to the crime scenes Grace felt a bit calmer. When she saw Lisbon and Cho walking towards them, she began to hyperventilate again.

"Hello Lisbon." Jane said in a serene voice.

"Where have you been?" She asked looking at him in annoyance through her green eyes.

"I sent you to get bags to put the evidence in four hours ago!" She said her face growing angrier by the second.

"And what are you two doing here? I thought you were on vacation." she asked suspiciously.

"Well" Jane said before Grace could even open her mouth.

"Grace here was visiting her family, she might know the victim if she takes a look at her." He said.

"What about you Rigsby." She asked crossing her arms.

"Well I um." Wayne said not able to come up with anything.

"Well I called Wayne to come to the crime scene. I knew that he usually gets very lonely when he is on vacation since he doesn't have a girlfriend and all, and he agreed to come and help out a bit." Jane said covering for Wayne. Lisbon didn't look convinced but pointed for them to follow her. They all walked forward, but Cho and Rigsby hung around a bit in the back talking.

"So why are you really here?" Cho asked his face expressionless as usual.

"Grace took me to meet her family." Wayne whispered, looking around so no one could hear them.

"And how's that going for you."

"Horrible, her family's a nightmare."

"So did Jane drag you guys here?"

"Yup, he said he wouldn't tell Lisbon, and that she's upset about something so if we could come and help."

They caught up to the group and Lisbon informed them of the victim.

"Twenty eight, Caucasian, Jane Doe. Hunters found her a few hours ago. TOD last night around midnight. Drag marks showed she was killed somewhere else and dumped here." Lisbon said.

As they came up to the body, Grace let out a scream and fell to her knees. She began to cry hysterically and wouldn't let anyone near her. She moved forward and rested her head on the ground, near the girl's body. Wayne started walking towards her, but Jane was faster. He grabbed her, and held on even though she was trying to fight him off. After a few seconds she gave up and let him hold her, tears streaming down her face. They all stood in silence as Grace wept and wept unaware of the silence. Wayne watched her body tremble as she clung to Jane. He moved his hand on her hair and said shhh over and over again. Wayne felt useless standing and just looking at her weep. He wanted to push Jane off of her and wrap his arms around her and be the one to comfort her instead of him. Wayne felt ridiculous for actually being jealous of Jane when Grace was in such misery.

Lisbon and Cho stood motionless, like Wayne not knowing what to do, or why Grace was crying. She slowly let go of Jane and looked at the girl lying on her back, a gunshot wound to her stomach. She looked at the girl's hand, and smiled while still crying slightly.

"You knew this girl, right Grace." Jane said using her first name instead of her last.

She nodded her head slightly and kept her eyes on the girl.

"You were good friends weren't you, but you haven't talked to her in over ten years." Grace nodded again beginning to cry more.

"The charm bracelet she's wearing, you gave that to her. You have one just like it as well." He continued to talk and tell her his thoughts.

Grace moved her fingers over the different charms on the bracelet and cried some more.

"Yes." She said quietly falling into Jane's arms again.

A/N: On the new episode Jane didn't feel comfortable when Grace cried in the elevator, but I made him be a little more emotional in the story.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

(Grace's POV)

I was sitting on the couch next to Wayne at the local police department. My head was resting against his shoulder and he gently laid his head on mine. Jane sat in a foldable chair staring at us strangely. Cho was signing some papers for a different homicide that we had closed. As Lisbon walked in Wayne and I released our hold from each other and sat up straight. Jane chuckled and walked to the kitchen to make some tea.

"So Grace, I know this is going to be hard, but I need you to tell us about the girl." Lisbon said sitting down on an arm chair and taking out a pen and notepad.

"Her name is Stacey Lowery. We were best friends all through high school." I said forcing myself not to cry. I'd already embarrassed myself once, and I wouldn't do it again.

"She moved from Idaho the summer before freshman year. Her mom was murdered when she was five. The cops said it was a drunken man who had robbed a store and stolen a knife and killed her on the street. Three stabs to the chest. Stacey never believed it was a strange drunk, she always thought it was somebody they knew who wanted to get revenge, but she never knew for what." I said.

"Maybe Stacey was searching for the killer, she found him or her and they killed her. It's good motive." Lisbon offered.

"Stacey did have this faze when she tried searching for the killer, but she never got anything, and gave up pretty fast. I doubt she actually did find out who did it." I said.

"Well okay tell us more about her." Lisbon said in a quiet voice. I looked around and saw Cho half listening and writing out the reports at the same time. Jane looked at me intentively and prepared his tea as well. Wayne sat next to me aching to comfort me but knowing he couldn't in front of Lisbon.

"We had almost every class together, and ended up talking a lot and started to become friends. I had some other friends, but not as good of a friend as Stacey. We ended up spending almost every waking minute together in and out of school. After a while my other friends got sick of me always being with her and I sort of drifted away from them. You might want to check out her dad. Stacey always talked about how he was an alcoholic every since her mom died. I went to her house one time and he was so drunk he almost started throwing things at me." I was interrupted by Jane coming over holding two cups of tea.

"Sorry to intrude, but I thought you might like something to drink." He said handing me the cup of steaming tea. I drank it and could feel my insides getting warmer.

"Did you put something in this Jane?" I asked growing wary.

"Just something to calm you." He said winking and giving me a charming smile. I smiled back and continued to drink the spiked tea.

"In the middle of junior year it started to begin. Stacey was always a good girl but was funny and exciting when she was out of school. Everyone thought of her as the shy and lonely type but she was exactly the opposite. Kids started spreading rumors about her, knowing she wouldn't do anything about it. And she didn't until one day. She was so sick of everyone, that she stood on one of the cafeteria tables and told everyone what she had been thinking for months about them. From then on people started to respect her more, and be friendlier. Anyone who can stick up for themselves was well liked in our school. Instead of becoming popular which she could have, she started dating one of the drug dealers at our school. People always suspected that he was one, but nobody ever found the proof. She started smoking and skipping class and she would always be with him." I snarled a bit when I spoke about Dylan. Every time I think about how he ruined Stacey's life I feel like hitting somebody.

"After a while I noticed that her eyes were red and she was always acting weird, and I knew she started doing drugs. She dragged me one night to one of Dylan's parties and everyone there was shooting heroin or smoking weed and getting drunk and stoned. I tried to get her away from there but she yelled at me and said "Gracey when are you going to grow up. This is the real world, not some fake place that you live in. One day you're going to get depressed and this is what it will lead to. So we say, get a head start and just go with the flow, man." I kept telling her she needs to stop but she wouldn't listen. She almost got kicked out of high school, because they caught her several times dealing drugs and skipping class repeatedly. She didn't even make it to graduation. Last time I saw her she promised she would get some help, but I highly doubt it."

Everyone sat in silence soaking in all the information I had just told them. Jane looked at me in a funny way but I was used to it. He always tried to study people and the more concentrated he got the funnier he looked.

"When did you last see her? When she told you she would get help?" Lisbon asked.

"It was a few days after graduation. I was packing up for college and she came to say goodbye."

"She was leaving?"

"I guess, she didn't say were though."

"There's something you're not telling us." Jane said pointing at me accusingly.

"What are you talking about?" I asked begging myself that for once he would drop it.

"You're turning pink, come on Grace this will only get harder if you don't tell us."

"It's nothing about Stacey. It's just something else that happened, but it didn't include her." I said in a scary voice, annoyed Jane always had to meddle into my life.

"Okay, sorry." He said putting his hands up, surrendering.

"Excuse me agent Lisbon?" said a man walking into the room.

"Yes" Lisbon said standing up.

"I'm detective Malory; I'm here to help you on the Jane Doe case." He said shaking her hand. He was wearing a black suit, with a light blue tie. His hair line was receding and thinning out slowly. He looked to be in his mid forties, obviously a long time detective. His modern glasses made him look as if he was trying to hard, and he acted as if he was as well.

"This is Agent Cho, Agent Rigsby and Agent Van Pelt. Patrick Jane, he's a consultant." Jane stood up and shook his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." He said smiling warmly, but in a joking way. He could clearly see what I had when he walked into the room.

"We actually have the name of the victim, Stacey Lowery. Agent Van Pelt knew the victim in high school. We have some information about her life then, and we're going to need to use your computers. It takes to long to go to our offices and back here. Thanks for the offer, but we don't need much help. You could help with the office work and keep us updated." Lisbon said.

Detective Malory stammered a bit and looked confused. He probably had never had anyone tell him to stay out of their cases. He nodded his head, turned around and stomped out of the room. Cho looked up and smiled, the second time I had seen him do it.

"Did you guys get a look at that guy or what?" He said, his smile growing broader by the second.

"You know Cho, if you smile more often, women will be all over you." Jane said.

With that Cho abruptly stopped smiling and glared at Jane.

"Are you guys going to drive the three hours it took you here, or stay at a hotel or something?" Wayne asked.

"Well actually" Jane said interrupting Lisbon. "I was hoping that we could first go to Grace's house, don't you think it would be lovely to meet her family? We could stay for dinner, if it's okay with them." Everyone looked at me to see what I would say. My heart raced as I tried thinking of an excuse for them not to come.

"Don't think of an excuse, come on gang, we're going to dine tonight at the Van Pelt household." Jane said sticking his arms in front of him, and singing the theme song for superman while racing outside. Lisbon rolled her eyes and followed Jane. Cho left shortly leaving me with Wayne.

"Distract them while I call my dad and beg him not to mention knowing you at all. I'll be out in a second." I kissed Wayne and grabbed my cell phone. He walked outside, and I could see him beginning to talk to them. I took a deep breath and dialed the familiar numbers into the phone.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

(Jane's POV)

I was sitting next to Grace in the black SUV which Lisbon was driving. I could see Grace growing more anxious as we got closer to her house. The neighborhood really was quite charming; I almost wished that I grew up here. Lisbon parked the car in the driveway and we all piled out. My smile grew bigger as I became more excited to meet Grace's family. Wayne kept wiping his hands onto his jeans, his breathing speeding a bit.

"You'll be fine." I whispered.

He looked at me mockingly and stepped onto the porch. Cho knocked on the door twice, and a few seconds later the door flew open to reveal a man I assumed was Grace's father. He was tall with wide shoulders, but a beer belly that expanded his jersey. A small blonde woman bent under his shoulder and walked forward introducing her self as Leanne. I noticed she shook our hands with her left hand instead of her right. That's when I noticed the enormous diamond ring on her fourth finger. This must be Grace's stepmother, although they looked to be the same age. As she saw Wayne she winked and smiled at him, flirtingly. When she shook my hand I extended my right one and smiled thoughtfully.

"I'm terribly sorry, but my left hand broke and the doctor advised me not to use it on a regular basis."

I could see Lisbon trying to hide her smile, obvious to the reason she shook with her left hand. Leanne frowned and dropped her arm, motioning for us to come inside. Grace gave her dad a quick kiss on the cheek and whispered something in his ear. He nodded and smiled at her warmly. As we sat on the couch and chairs two men came from the kitchen.

"These are my brothers, Chad and Gerald. Where are Derek and Yolanda?" Grace asked in confusion.

"Oh Derek went home, and Yolanda's staying at your aunts house." Her dad said and sat down drinking a beer.

"Would ya'll like some tea? I got some new ones this mornin' from the market." Leanne said.

I raised my hand and followed her into the kitchen. She took out a blue kettle, filled it with water and placed it on the stove.

"So Mr. Jane, what's a handsome man like you doing at a boring job like this?" she asked stepping closer until she was only a foot away from me.

"Well my wife and daughter were murdered by a serial killer, and by being on the team I get to help find him." I said opening a cabinet and taking out two mugs.

"Oh and I also close cases." I said to her shocked face.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry, I had no idea. Gracey always said you could do cool things like know someone by reading their body language, and looking at them. Is it true?" She asked removing the kettle and pouring the steaming water into the mugs.

"Well I suppose so." I said moving around the bag of tea until the water had changed color.

"Could you do it to me?" she asked hopefully.

"Okay. It's obvious that you married Grace's dad for the money, he just got lots from his father's death, right?" she looked at me, her face fuming with anger.

"You're also unhappy in the marriage, even though you get whatever you want. But you've been unhappy for a while. There's something that someone did to you that you'll never forgive them for. You then left your small hometown, probably in Alabama and moved to L.A trying to be free. When you were broke, you decided to take advantage of your looks and started marrying and divorcing rich men all over California." I said sipping my tea.

She stood stunned and terrified.

"How, how did you know that?"

"Well the ring is so big, that you probably begged your husband to buy you, showing he's got dough. And the way you prepared your tea."

"How is preparing my tea have anything to do with my life?"

"Well when you moved the tea bag in your mug, you did it quite aggressively, trying to make it seem like you were calm at the same time. That shows you are angry at something, probably something someone did to you, but never did anything about, or tell anyone."

"Well how'd ya know the rest?"

"Oh, I guessed." I turned and walked back into the living room, and sat on the empty seat on the couch. Lisbon and Chad were chatting about something that had happened on the news, while Cho and Grace's dad talked about some baseball team they both liked. Gerald, Grace and Wayne were sitting next to each other, clearly uncomfortable in each other's presence. Grace was doing most of the talking, as Gerald kept glaring at Wayne. I reminded myself to ask what they had done to get him so upset. I took a seat next to Lisbon on the couch and listened to their conversation.

"…but they never found actual proof of the poisoning. I just don't get how a jury can ignore that." Chad said looking pleased with himself.

"It is weird that they ignored it." Lisbon said looking bored.

"So you're a lawyer?" I asked Chad.

"Yes, I work at the Trope Trope law firm in Los Angeles." He said looking at Lisbon to see if that impressed her. She gave him a fake smile and started talking about a different case that had appeared in the newspaper. I moved to where Gerald, Grace and Wayne sat talking.

"Hello everybody." I said cheerfully, trying to get at least one of them to smile. They all sat as expressionless as Cho.

"Gerald, I'm Patrick Jane." I said shaking his hand.

"Ooh, strong handshake." I said. Gerald was almost as tall as his father. He was built largely, his biceps flexing at any possible chance.

"So I see you're the athlete of the family." I said.

"Yes." He said. I expected him to say more, but he sat there staring at me. None of Grace's family even remotely reminded me of her. They all had boring personalities. If Grace was even a little like this out side work, I couldn't believe why Wayne was even with her.

"Don't these two make a cute couple?" I said.

"Jane! Shut up." Grace whispered.

"Talk any louder and Lisbon will here you." She said.

I grew quite bored after a while. Nobody here was any fun to pick on. I went into the kitchen and picked around in their fridge until I found something decent to eat. I searched around for a fork and sat down at the island and ate my food.

"What do you think your doing?" Lisbon asked walking inside the kitchen.

"Oh it's so boring there, and I got hungry. Maybe after I eat I can get something out of those brothers of hers." I said.

"No one mentioned the murder, do you think they even knew Stacey." I asked.

"Well I think Grace didn't tell them."

"Why wouldn't she?"

"I don't know." She said grabbing a spoon and eating with me. As I took huge mouthfuls, she only took one piece of pasta at a time and ate them carefully.

"I can't wait to get out of here; we need to be up early tomorrow to start interviewing family and friends." She said.

"How about we don't think about that until tomorrow?"

"Fine." She said irritated.

We heard a loud laugh coming from the living room. I tilted my chair sideways until I saw Grace's dad smacking Cho on the back, both of them laughing and smiling.

"Seems like Cho found a new friend." I said.

"Yeah." Lisbon said distracted. She stood up and headed to the living room. I followed after her, setting the pasta on the counter.

"It's been really nice meeting you, but we have to head over to the hotel. We need to wake up early tomorrow and start working." She said.

"Oh no, nonsense, you guys can stay with us!" Grace's dad said patting Cho on the back again. I became excited again, having more time to observe the Van Pelt family.

"Oh no dad, we don't have enough room, its fine." She said panicking.

"Of course we have room! You can stay in your old room, Cho can go in the guest room, and the rest can sleep in your brothers' old rooms. It all fits perfectly." He said happily.

"We'd love to!" I said, getting stares of such hatred from Lisbon, Grace and Wayne.

"Great, let's get your luggage from the car!" He said excited.

I went outside and opened the trunk of the car.

"You're going to regret ever being born." Grace said slapping me on the arm.

I rubbed my arm and grabbed as many suitcases as I could, walking into the house. I smiled as I saw the annoyed expressions of everyone besides Cho. He and I would be the only ones enjoying this little sleepover.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I making this chapter very short, sorry about that. But the next will be the beginning of the investigation. I just got lots to do today, and I wasn't even going to write a chapter! Enjoy and please review!!

Chapter eight:

(Wayne's POV)

I lay in Gerald's bed, unable to fall asleep. The poster of a swimsuit model taped to the ceiling only made me more uncomfortable. The room was covered in posters, women, football, and bands. There was a large bookcase filled with different trophies and awards. The whole room made me feel as if Gerald was glaring at me, but through the eyes of the different people on the walls. I had to get out of here. As I got off the bed carefully, it made a slow grunting noise, feeling the weight of my body being lifted off. I tried to make my way out of the bedroom as quietly as possible, not trying to wake anyone up and find out were I was heading. The door clicked shut as I closed it, and I made my way down the hall. The old wooden floors creaked quietly under my feet and grew louder as I tried to get to Grace's room as quickly as possible. I opened her door slowly, trying not to disturb her as she slept. When I finally closed the door soundlessly, I turned and saw Grace propped up on her bed. She wore an oversized t-shirt, showing her bare white legs in the moonlight. I walked over and sat next to her on the bed.

"Did I wake you?" I asked her tired face.

"No, I couldn't fall asleep." She replied.

She shifted to her side, and moved the blanket to make room for me. I crept slowly under the covers and slung an arm over her protectively. My face was on her hair, smelling her lovely flowery perfume. She moved slightly, pressing her back closer to my front. I kissed her head and closed my eyes; hoping sleep would take over me.

An hour had passed, and I still couldn't make myself sleep. Grace seemed to be asleep, but I could never be sure if she was.

"Grace." I whispered, trying not to wake her if she really was asleep.

"Yeah." She whispered back.

"I can't fall asleep."

"Me either." She complained.

She turned around until we were face to face, our heads an inch away from the other.

"You know what we could do if we can't fall asleep." I said seductively. I began to kiss her, gently at first, but then fiercer and more eager. She kissed me back, as excited as I began to be.

"We can't." she said, her voice undecided.

"We'll make to much noise, you with all your yelling." She said smiling.

"Me, you're the one who makes more noise than me. I'm the quietest." I said teasingly.

I kissed her neck a little bit, upset that we couldn't do anything, being stuck at her dad's house. She pushed me a bit and wrapped her arms around me. We laid there in silence, holding each other, unmoving. I could feel something wet on my skin, and looked down to see a bit of water trickling down my chest. I pushed Grace away from me and saw tears streaming down her face.

"Why are you crying?" I said hugging her, and brushing her hair back.

"I jjjust keeeeep seeing Sttttacey in my hhhead, layiiiing thhhhere dead oooon thhhe gggground." She said bursting into a whole new set of tears. I tried to comfort her, and tell her things to calm her, but she kept crying. I knew how she hated to show her true feelings to me, or anyone, and how hard this must be for her. She looked up at me, with a look I knew so well.

"Don't worry." I said kissing the tears on her cheeks getting them to vanish off her beautiful face.

"What was the charm bracelet you had been looking at in the forest?" I said in a soothing voice.

"In sophomore year, we decided to get the same bracelet, and add charms to the different things that we did together. There was ice skating, horseback riding, swimming, fishing, hunting-"

"Wait, you know how to hunt?" I said surprised.

"Oh ya, everyone around here was taught by there dad's when they were probably ten years old. It's a tradition. That's how I first learned to use a gun, well a shot gun." She said, acting like a bit of a show-off.

She cracked a smile, the tears dried up and hidden behind her clear eyes. I gave her a long smooch and pulled away slowly.

"We need to get some sleep." I said

"I don't want to sleep." She whined like a three year old.

"Well try." I said. And with that we laid together, arms around each other falling asleep with the clear moon looking at us through the window.

But what we didn't know was that in the next room, a blonde haired man listening to our conversation with a glass cup propped on the wall, his ear pushed onto it, smiling devilishly.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I might make the team do some investigating together, because Lisbon usually separates them to do different things, but because they are not in their usual office, it might change a bit. Review and keep reading!

Chapter 9:

As the sun rose, everyone in the house started to wake. By seven, Jeff was already in the kitchen with Jane, Lisbon and Cho drinking coffee and tea. Rays of sun, slanted through the oval shaped windows that encircled the kitchen. The stools that stood around the island were occupied by the awaking people, who sat together making awkward conversation. Grace and Wayne were soundlessly asleep in her bedroom, unable to sleep most of the night, but finally letting sleep overtake them at four. As someone knocked on the door, Grace sprung to life and hit Wayne hard on the arm.

"Get under the bed, someone's here." She whispered. He slid off the bed obediently and tried to squeeze his long body under the bed.

"Come in." He could hear Grace saying above him.

"Hello there sleepy head, Wayne you can come out, the coast is clear." said Jane stepping into the bedroom, and closing it behind him. Wayne rolled over until he was besides Jane's feet, bereft his pants and shirt.

"Ooh, Wayne in his boxers, another mental image I will have in my head." He said taking an imaginary picture with an imaginary camera. Grace laughed a bit, but Wayne glowered, and stood up to his regular size.

"Can you get out Jane?" He said pointing to the door. Jane twirled a bit and scampered out of the room. He skipped down the hall entering the kitchen and taking his seat besides Cho.

"Is she up yet?" Lisbon asked sipping her black coffee.

"Yeah, and Wayne too, they'll be here in about two minutes." He said munching on the piece of toast Jeff set in front of him.

"Well tell them to hurry up, I just found out where Stacey worked." She said.

"It's horrible what happened to Stacey, she was a good girl before all the drugs." He said cutting his omelet in half and taking an enormous bite. Grease slid down the side of his mouth, and he wiped it away with his hands. Jeff's size made everyone feel like a little dwarf when you stood next to him. His large hands made you think of all the scary things he could do with them. No wonder he was a football player and coach. Jane thought curiously. He probably enjoyed tormenting his players by his size, and scaring them into playing harder.

"Hi dad." Grace said walking into the kitchen and giving him a small peck on the cheek.

"Where's Leanne?" She asked.

"Oh, she's still in bed, you know, getting her beauty sleep." Jeff said chuckling quietly. Jane joined in for no apparent reason, and finished his toast with a satisfied smile on his face. Wayne walked in a few seconds later. They had probably planned how many seconds apart they would walk in, thought Cho. It was written all over there faces that he had spent the night in her room, although he hadn't heard anything in the night. Cho looked over at Jane, and saw his ecstatic smile, thinking the same thing that he was.

"Rigsby, make your coffee to go, we have a case to investigate people, let's go." Lisbon said grabbing the car keys off the counter and making her way outside. Everyone thanked Jeff and followed Lisbon for the hour long car ride they had to endure together.

An hour later, they had reached a small town northeast from where Grace lived. Lisbon parked in front of a large drugstore near a gas station. They all piled out of the car and waited for Lisbon's instructions.

"Cho and Wayne, wait in the car for any updates from the local police. Van Pelt and Jane come with me." Cho and Wayne got into the car willingly and sat waiting. Lisbon, Jane and Van Pelt walked into the drugstore looking around suspiciously.

"Stacey worked here for about a year, her boss didn't know much about her, only she was late many times, and stole one time from the store." Lisbon said.

"Why did they keep her then?" Grace asked.

"Because she worked hard when she was willing." Jane said.

"Yes." Lisbon said, still in awe at how he could tell these things. The store was like any other drugstore, but was two stories high. The rooms smelled of medication and sweat, but the employee's tried to decorate the walls with photos to make the place seem happier. Parents walked down the aisle holding their young children by the arms, refusing to buy them anything. Old men and women took their time finding what they were looking for, and asking younger children to help them reach certain objects. Teenagers swarmed around in groups, trying on makeup, or stealing magazines. Lisbon, Grace and Jane walked up to the cashier, a sixteen year old girl with blue hair and several piercings.

"CBI, we'd like to ask you a couple of questions about this girl." Lisbon said flashing her badge and showing a picture of Stacey taken in high school. After digging around, Grace found some pictures that they had taken together.

The teenager looked stared into Lisbon's eyes, popping her green gum and drumming her fake fingernails on the counter.

"You better answer her questions; you have no idea what she's capable of." Jane said playing with some of the objects for sale. He stood behind Lisbon and bent his neck to the side pulling an imaginary rope, mimicking somebody killing themselves. The girl's face paled and she looked at the picture carefully. Jane turned around walking down the aisles, a smile on his face.

"Yeah, that's Stacey. She usually works the morning shifts, if she's not drunk or high." The girl said pushing the picture back towards Lisbon who put it back in her pocket.

"Is there anything else you can tell us, friends, boyfriend, family?" Grace said hopefully. Lisbon stared at her in annoyance for stealing her line.

"Well there would be these two girls who sometimes came in and hanged around with her during her shifts." She said playing with her hair. Grace and Lisbon waited for her to keep talking, but she stood there staring at them with deep brown eyes.

"Oh, you want me to tell you. Well I know that one of them is called Snow since she used coke the most; they never used real names only nicknames. And I think the other one's name is Angel Eyes." Jane came back to the counter holding a bag of chips and listening to the girl talking.

"How much for the chips?" He asked politely taking out his wallet from his back pocket.

"1.99." she said swiping it through the machine and handing him back his change and receipt.

"Oh and what did you say her boyfriends name was?" Jane asked leaning forward and pointing a finger at the girl waiting for her answer.

"Krazylocks." She said staring deeply into Jane's eyes.

"Thanks." He said giving her a charming smile and turning around.

"Come on girls, she doesn't know more than that." He said as he sauntered towards the exit, all eyes on him.

Grace and Lisbon slightly confused followed after him until they reached the familiar black car.

"You didn't even touch her, how could you possibly have hypnotized her?" Lisbon asked turning in her seat with a shocked expression on her face.

"Now that's a trick I will never reveal." He said taking a chip and shoving it in his mouth eagerly. Wayne and Cho stuffed their hands in as well and took out a handful.

"Any news from the local PD?" Lisbon asked

"They found Stacey's local hangout for dealing and doing drugs. Its south from here, about twenty minutes." Cho said munching on the greasy chips.

"Good, Wayne, go through the system to find druggies by the names of Snow, Angel Eyes, and Krazylocks. And that's with a K." She said closing her notepad.

"What kind of name is Krazylocks?" Wayne asked turning on the laptop.

"I like it." Jane said from the backseat smiling at Lisbon. She scowled and turned around, putting the car into drive.

The druggie's hangout was in a dark alley way, in a door barely visible. As the agents came up to the door, Lisbon motioned for Jane to wait outside, since he wasn't armed. He agreed, too scared to even go inside if he was armed. Lisbon motioned with her fingers for Grace to go to the side and check the perimeter, and Cho and Wayne to go in with her. Lisbon knocked on the door with her small sturdy fist.

"CBI, we have some questions we'd like to ask you." She said knocking on the door again. She could hear the music being lowered, but nobody making an attempt to open the door. She nodded to Wayne, who with one swift kick knocked the door open. They walked in with their arms straight, their guns ready to be used on anyone who tried to shoot them.

"Get down on your knees, everyone." Lisbon roared pointing her gun to the men and women who roamed around the small hangout. Girls were wrapped up in blankets shaking uncontrollably moving their body's back and forth. They mumbled to themselves, their pale faces growing an unnatural color. Men were slumped over tables and chairs unconscious. Some people were still taking drugs when Lisbon, Cho and Wayne came inside. The bar was full of dust and cobwebs, untouched by anyone. The only light was coming through a fist sized window, and several small lamps scattered across the room. Everyone listened obediently to the agents and fell to their knees, staring at them with large red eyes.

"Which one of you is Krazylocks?" Cho yelled pointing the gun around the room, scanning the crowd. Out of nowhere a man flew from behind the drapes knocking Lisbon onto the ground on the way out.

"Jane!" she yelled as she got up slowly. She went after the suspect, but Jane had gotten him first. As he ran out the door, Jane, hearing his name and seeing the man run, pulled his arm out in front of the door, smashing into Krazylock's noise and knocking him out cold.

"How'd you do that?" Lisbon asked handcuffing Krazylocks and pulling him up, shoving him against the brick wall.

"I don't know, but I can't feel my arm." Jane said shaking his arm and whining like a baby. He jumped up and down, moving it wildly trying to hold back screams of pain. Wayne and Cho came out, laughing as they saw Jane in front of them.

"We found Snow and Angel Eyes boss." Cho said.

"Good, get Van Pelt and bring them down to the local PD. We've got some interrogating to do." She said grabbing Krazylocks in her hand and dragging Jane with the other.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Sorry for not posting. I'm not going to be posting chapters every day, but I'm trying as much as possible. Keep tuning in and review. Also: I just noticed that I am writing in the period before Lisbon knows about them, before the scene where Wayne says: "Grace and I are lovers". Just wanted to add that. Enjoy!

Chapter 10:

Cho seated Krazylocks into the interrogation room, and started his routine of questions. The rest of the team stood looking into the room through the window. As Cho asked multiple of different questions, Krazylocks sat staring blindly at the wall, muting out anything Cho was saying.

"He won't budge." Lisbon said frowning. She tapped on the window, signaling for Cho to end the questioning. He stood up, piled his papers and walked out the room.

"Agent Lisbon?" said a police officer walking into the room.

"Yes?" she said.

"We got a hit with your suspect." He said handing her a wireless laptop.

"Thank you." She said as he walked out the room.

"Krazylocks aka John Meyers. Born in Pennsylvania, kicked out of UCLA for drug possession, and no record of him since. He was arrested twice for assault, and trespassing. A man by the name of Randy Stewart filed a restraining order against Meyer earlier this year. Rigsby, find out were Stewart lives, Jane, come with me." Lisbon said entering the interrogation room. Krazylocks was seated in one of the chairs that were in the cage like room. His hands lay carelessly on the table, his eyes half closed. He swayed his head from side to side, as if moving to the sound of music. His feet tapped slightly every once in a while, moving to the sound of a beat he only heard. As the door closed behind Jane and Lisbon, he snapped out of his trance and straitened up a bit in his seat.

"No, no don't mind us, be as you were." Jane said sitting himself in one of the chairs and staring intently at Krazylocks. He smiled kindly and motioned with his hands for him to go on. Krazylocks tried to ignore him, and went back to the state he was in before. Jane stood up and moved around him, intrigued by his movements. Jane walked around him until he was crouched behind his back staring at his neck. Slowly he reached his hand up and lightly tapped his neck with one finger. Krazylocks continued swaying, but turned around to glare at Jane, who only smiled and walked back to his seat.

"He didn't do it." Jane said crossing his arms behind his head, and leaned back relaxingly.

"How do you know that? He obviously was abusive and high most of the time. Give me one good reason why he wouldn't do it." Lisbon said frustratingly.

"You know I can hear you." Krazylocks said raising both arms in the air.

Jane and Lisbon ignored him and continued their own conversation.

"Did you see the way that he didn't even flinch when I poked him? Well somebody with a guilty conscious notices everything around them to have every clue if they will be found. Since he didn't cringe away, shows he has nothing to be guilty of and that he's not the guy we're looking for." Jane said satisfied.

"Why am I even here? I didn't do nothing wrong, man." Krazylocks said slightly confused and dazed. Lisbon reached for a flashlight from her coat pocket and opened his eyes, flashing it into his surprised face.

"Yep he's definitely high." Lisbon said.

"Why am I here man?" He said banging the table with force.

"Stacey's been murdered." Jane said crossing his arms and waiting for a reaction from him. He looked at them with a trembling lip, and tears beginning to form in his light blue eyes.

"No, no, no man you're lying. Tell me it ain't true." He said pointing at Jane.

"Afraid so." Jane said patting his back and walking out of the room. To Lisbon's horror, Krazylocks banged his head against the sturdy table and began wailing like a baby. She quickly got out from the room, and gave the police instructions to file the paper work, and charge him with possession. She walked quickly to their little office space to see what they had to do next.

"Rigsby, did you find anything about Mr. Stewart?"

"Yeah boss, he lives about ten minutes from here, in the new neighborhood their building. This guy is one rich mother-"

"Okay thanks. Cho and Rigsby stay here and dig some more. Jane, Van Pelt lets go."

The seven bedroom, four and a half bathroom, Italian style villa was more than any of them were imagining. They walked up the path to a twenty foot gate and buzzed the intercom.

"Hello how may I help you." Said a woman with a high pitched Chinese accent. Jane moved his hand on the gate, feeling it and studying the house that seemed as if it belonged to a king, let alone a doctor.

"Were CBI agents, we have some questions to ask Mr. Stewart." Lisbon yelled loudly into the intercom.

"You don't have to yell missy." She said giggling.

"Mr. Stewart no home, he busy." She said.

"Could you check again, and tell him it's an urgent matter about a homicide." Lisbon said. They heard some muffles and then a deep voice saying "Let them in" and the gate opening before them. They walked to the door and were greeted by a large man in his mid forties. He greeted them as Mr. Stewart and led them into a large living room with three leather sofas. He was still wearing his suit from work and rubbed his eyes as he sat down on the couch. Lisbon and Grace sat down on the couch facing Mr. Stewart, and Jane walked around the room studying every object. Mr. Stewart studied him with wary eyes, but turned his attention to the two ladies sitting in front of him.

"Hello Mr. Stewart, I'm Teresa Lisbon and this is Grace Van Pelt. That's Patrick Jane. Try to ignore him, that's what I do. We're with the CBI investigating the murder of Stacey Lowery." As he heard Stacey's name, his face turned a shade whiter. He composed himself quite quickly and continued to listen. Jane was the only one in the room who noticed his response to the victim's name.

"And how may I help you with the investigation." He said sleepily leaning back into the couch.

"Well we saw that you filed a restraining order against Stacey's boyfriend John Meyers, also know as Krazylocks by other people." Lisbon stuttered on the last part.

"Yeah that kid snooped around my house peering through the windows. I confronted him but he almost beat me to death." He said over exaggerating.

"Do you know why he would even be snooping around your house?" Grace asked. She looked at him closer; something about his eyes reminded him so much of somebody.

"Where's your wife?" Jane asked pointing at a picture.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Stewart asked.

"Your wife. I see the wedding ring, but I don't see you with a woman in any of these pictures."

"Oh." Mr. Stewart said laughing.

"She hates taking pictures, a beauty like her and no pictures. Couldn't believe it myself but people have their weird habits." He said continuing to laugh.

"Where she know?" Jane asked smiling a bit.

"Went to visit her family in New York for a week. She won't be back for another five days." He said.

"As I was saying." Grace said glowering at Jane.

"Is there any reason that John was snooping around your house."

"Well there is one." He said loosening his tie a bit. Sweat began to form on his forehead and he took a deep breath.

"Are you all right Mr. Stewart?" Lisbon asked concerned.

"Yeah I'm fi-" But he couldn't finish the sentence as he fell to the ground and began to twitch uncontrollably.

"Call 911" Lisbon yelled as she bent towards his limp body and felt for a pulse. She pushed her hands to where his heart was and counted to herself, pushing and pushing. Jane hovered over her trying to do something to help her. The Chinese maid entered with a tray of tea. As she saw the scene before her she gave a terrified yelp and fainted as well onto the carpeted floor. Lisbon tried to push harder, making him stay alive. The sound of an ambulance rushing towards them became clearer as the seconds passed. She felt for a pulse again, and let go of him since there was none.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Shorter than my usual chapters, but enjoy and review!

Chapter 11:

The bright hallway of the hospital felt like it never ended. Grace walked quickly, passing as many rooms as possible. Her ballet flats made no noise against the smooth tiles that were plastered in the floor. She drummed her fingers slightly on the side of her legs, and kept her head down, out of sight to anyone who knew her. When she finally got to the waiting room she saw that the whole team was sitting in the chairs. They were each anticipating her arrival, wanting to continue the investigation.

"Well as you can guess Mr. Stewart did not make it." Grace said clearing her throat. It always pained her in some way when someone was killed, even someone she hadn't known.

"The autopsy report came back and said that he was poisoned with a leaf called Belladonna; also know as the deadly nightshade. The poison means "beautiful woman" and an extract from the plant were used as a beauty product during the renaissance. It dilated the pupils, and gave woman a wide-eyed appearance." Grace said reading off the paper that the doctor had handed to her only moments before.

"It could be the wife that used it. He did say she was a beauty, and she wasn't there at all. She could be running away." Cho said while still staring at his book.

"But what motive has she got?" Wayne asked.

"Cho call the police station and find out if Mr. Stewart had life insurance or any money that he was going to give over after his death, and try to find out who his wife is." Lisbon said as she motioned for everyone to stand and start walking out the building.

"Rigsby, what did Snow and Angel Eyes say in the interview."

"Well they tried to protest and say the drugs that we found in their pockets weren't theirs. But other than that they gave no useful information. You could tell they liked Stacey too much to hurt her. They also added that she'd been trying to get clean for a long time, but it was hard since she was surrounded by drugs on a regular basis. She said she was doing it for a friend she had treated badly long ago." Everyone fell silent and stared at Grace as they hurried out of the hospital. She ignored them and continued to walk, not letting herself feel bad for the problems Stacey put upon herself. Jane was the quietest of all. He hadn't said one word since they had been in the hospital. He kept looking away from the group, as if his mind was elsewhere. As they reached the car he let out a scream of joy and smiled so broadly, you could see every little line on his face.

"Why are you so happy Jane?" Lisbon asked pausing at the door.

"I figured it out." He said getting into the car.

"What did you figure out?" She asked putting the keys into the ignition.

"Why do you think Krazylocks was snooping around Mr. Stewart's house?"

"I don't know, I didn't figure it out yet." Lisbon whispered.

"Well did you see his ears? The top part was folded slightly, and what I noticed when I saw Stacey was that the top of her ear was also folded in the exact same way." He said his smiling growing bigger, if that was even possible.

"He's her biological father." Grace said her eyes opened wide and her mouth created the shape of an "O".

"Van Pelt call the lab and ask them to run a paternal test to see if he really is her father. But if he is, why would Krazylocks be snooping around his house, why not her?" Lisbon said.

"I though about that, and I figured she was scared to just come up to his house and tell him who she was. She probably forced Krazylocks to see what type of guy he is, and only then if he seemed like a reasonable person, she would introduce herself." Jane said.

"Seems logical enough." Lisbon said continuing to drive.

"Where are we headed anyway?" Jane asked peering outside the window looking puzzled.

"We're going back to the hotel." She said

A phone vibrated, and Grace opened hers to see her father on the caller ID. She chatted with him for a bit, frowning and flushing red through the whole conversation.

"Actually you're coming to my place." Grace said snapping the phone shut.

"Excuse me?" Lisbon asked shoting Grace a glare of pure hatred.

"Well my dad enjoyed Cho's comp- and yours of course, that he invited you guys to come for a proper dinner and meet the rest of my family." She said looking embarrassed.

"But I'd advise Jane not to come." She said glancing at him.

"Why not?" He said looking hurt.

"Well my cousin is going to be there, and she might kick your ass when she sees you?"

"Why would she do that, I don't even know her."

"She's heard about you."

"What has she heard?"

"Well let me put it this way, she's a physic."

"Oh."

"I'm still coming. I'm not going to let one person rule my life." He added.

"Your funeral." Grace said leaning her head on the window and closing her eyes. The whole day had made her more tired than she had in days. Everyone coming over for dinner would just make her more stressful and worn- out than she already was.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I'm still trying to figure out how I want the story to go (I have some idea's but I haven't decided yet), but if you have any suggestions or requests on something you would want added to the story, just tell me! I also couldn't think of a very good ending for this chapter, sorry. Review and Enjoy!

Chapter 12:

"Mix that por faplease, oh my, I just don't know if all of this was such a great idea after all." Leanne said bustling about the kitchen giving orders to the Mexican staff she had hired to cook tonight's dinner. Although she didn't even know how to toast bread, she gave commands to every single person in the large kitchen on how to cut, boil or sauté the dishes.

"Honey, come out and greet your guests and leave these poor people alone." Jeff said standing in the entrance of the kitchen.

"All righty." She said making her way to the living room where Yolanda, Sylvia, Derek and his family were all sitting on the couches.

"Why aren't we eating? I'm hungry." Cried five year old Liam playing with a toy truck on the carpet.

"Well now were waiting for your aunt Gracie and her friends to come." Just as Leanne said this the doorbell rang. Jeff scurried towards the door and came back inside led by Jane, Lisbon, Grace, Wayne and Cho.

"Auntie Grace, auntie Grace look what I've got." yelled Liam running right into Grace's leg. He pointed his truck, trying to jump as high as he could to reach her face. Grace bent down and gave him a hug.

"What do you have Liam?" Grace asked playing along with him.

Yolanda got off the couch and walked straight to a happy looking Jane. She studied him for a bit before introducing herself and shaking his hand.

"I'm Yolanda, Grace's cousin. You must be Patrick Jane." She said. Her face was set in a serious manner, staring Jane straight in the eyes. He looked at her with the same unreadable look and felt guilty for what he would do to her in front of her whole family.

"Let's just get to the point. I know you're a physic and you know that I don't believe in that. I've had this conversation way to many times with people like you and to be frank, I'm sick of it. So just say what you want to say, and I'll pretend like I'm listening." He said crossing his arms and waiting for the words to spill out of her mouth. Instead he heard complete silence. He looked at her shocked face and realized she wouldn't udder a single word, too embarrassed by his little announcement.

"Okay, thanks for the insight." He said walking around her to meet the rest of the family.

"I told you not say anything." Grace whispered stepping away from Liam.

"You said no such thing!" Yolanda exclaimed raising her arms in the air, her many bracelets stirring by the movement.

"I can't believe that ass. How do you work with him every day?" She asked.

"I have no idea." Grace said shaking her head. She turned around and saw Wayne standing in the center of the room looking around for someone to talk to. As he saw all the people who were with them tonight, he knew that not one of them would want to speak with him. He suddenly felt like a bug trying to walk through the stampede of human feet trying to kill him. As he noticed Grace looking at him he nodded slightly and made different signals with his hands. She remembered that on their third date he had taught her sign language. He know spelled out different words and pointed somewhere to his right. She smiled, understanding what he had said and sneaked off with him, making sure nobody could see.

Jane took his seat on the couch next to Grace's grandmother Sylvia. He was delighted by her quick humor and her knowledge of the world, even though she was a bit slow. He could feel Lisbon's glare behind him, as she had yet another boring conversation with Derek, Grace's brother. His wife was talking to Leanne in hushed whispers on the couch next to theirs, looking around every second to see if someone was noticing. As they saw Jane looking at them curiously, they stood up abruptly and walked into the kitchen. He wondered what kind of intimate conversation the gorgeous blonde haired woman would be having with the small pixie like Leanne. Cho was happily seated next to Jeff's dad, smiling and talking to him with ease. Jane looked around, but couldn't spot Grace or Wayne anywhere. He smiled, a thought crossing his mind to where they are. The voices from the kitchen grew a bit louder, and he excused himself from Grace's grandmother. Slowly, he snuck to the sitting room that was connected to the kitchen and tried to listen over the bangs of pots and pans.

"What are we going…"

"I'm not sure but…"

"Do you think he knows…"

He could only hear parts of their conversation, but nothing that could mean anything. By the way they were talking; he figured it was just the normal housewife gossip.

"Alright, yal come to the dining room so we can eat some dinner." Leanne said walking into the sitting room. Jane quickly moved aside to pretend as if he were examining something, but to his luck Leanne didn't even notice him.

Everyone piled into the dining room, even Grace and Wayne who were in the hallway closet. They had barely heard Leanne over the voices of everyone, but made it in time not to look too suspicious. Everyone took their seats, and waited for dinner to be served.

The first course was a tortilla soup. One of the staff members walked in and out of the room, carrying each bowl and setting it down slowly in front of each person. Everyone slurped their soup eagerly and fell to a hushed silence. Derek's wife excused herself several times to go check on the screaming Macey, whom was trying to fall asleep. They all talked about different subjects, weather, news, life. Jane just sat back and observed everyone, adding in every once in a while to the teams utter dismay. Every thing that came out of his mouth was either an insult, or something highly inappropriate. Grace kept her eyes on her food, enjoying the spiciness of the chicken, and rice that was set before her. She glanced briefly to the unmoved faces of everyone around her. Her dad seemed to be the only one smiling, but of course to something Cho had said.

"Okay, we're ready for desert!" Leanne yelped in the direction of the kitchen. Shortly after, a short thin man came holding a tray with cups filled with mouse and fruit. Leanne refused one since she was on a strict diet, but everyone else reached as fast as they could to the delicious desert.

"I'm sorry but I didn't catch your name yet." Jane said politely to Derek's wife.

"Oh there's Macey again, I'll be right back." She said quickly and walked out the room. Lisbon's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She had always felt something not right with that woman. She kept trying to figure it out, but her mind stayed blank.

"Would you men like to join me for some brandy and cigars?" Jeff asked. Jane chuckled at how old fashioned he had sounded. Not that he had a problem with that; he was always acting the same way.

Wayne, Derek, Cho and Jane, followed Jeff into the sitting room that Jane was in before. Jeff closed the doors on both sides, and reached into a drawer, to reveal a box of corona cigars. He smiled holding one in the air, and passing it out to everyone. Wayne and Cho politely refused, but Derek and Jane took one excitingly. Well Jane did.

"Some brandy." Jeff said taking out five cups and pouring the liquor into them equally. They all sat in the chairs, sipping and smoking their cigars peacefully. This was the one place were they could get away from all the women in their lives, the one place were they could be men. The sitting room was almost like a locker room, but for older men.

Jeff lit the cigars for Derek and Jane. They puffed at them with nervous quivering lips, but got the hang of it soon enough. Cho and Wayne sipped their brandy in silence. The room began to fill with smoke, and they could barely see each other through the heavy fog. Jane's eyes watered and he gulped, trying to force the tears to stay in his eyes.

After they had finished the cigars and brandy, they went back into the living room, were the women were drinking coffee and tea. They began the awkward conversation yet again, and continued to talk until Lisbon announced to call it a day, and head back to the hotel.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Short cute chapter, before real things start to happen. Review and enjoy!

Chapter 13:

"Mix the cards would you Rigsby, now everyone pay attention. This handsome man in front of me will shuffle the cards himself so you can make sure that I don't cheat. Okay hand them over." Jane reached over the wooden table and took the pile of cards out of Rigsby's large hands. He held them in his own, and showed them to the audience who had formed around their table during the third trick.

"Now in here are four robbers named Jack who decided to rob a house. The deck will represent the house. The first robber walked up to the house." As he said this, Jane took the first card off the top of the deck and showed everyone a Jack. He put it gently on the table and continued his trick. It wasn't like him to stoop so low to card tricks, but he had been trying to entertain the team as much as possible, and this was his last resort. Of course in the end, Rigsby was the only one who actually enjoyed the tricks.

Lisbon pushed her way through the crowd that surrounded their table, and went to the coffee bar on the other side of the hotel restaurant. Like any other crappy restaurant, the coffee tasted like dirt, but kept her awake. She needed to be alert if she would survive the whole day with Jane.

Grace had joined the team for breakfast, after sleeping at her own house the night before. She was wide awake, and ready to finally find out who had killed Stacey. As she walked into the hotel restaurant, she saw most of the people there surrounding a table in the middle of the room. As she slowly moved forward, she understood it must be something of Jane's. Her head spun to the right, trying to look for a distraction when she spotted Lisbon besides the coffee machines. Grace lowered her head and walked in the other direction, not ready to face Lisbon so early in the morning. A lady was serving some food that looked as if it was supposed to be in a high school cafeteria. She grabbed a plate, and slathered it with every option available. Madly, she thrust it into Grace's awaiting hands, and walked behind a door that led into the kitchen. Grace studied the brown and green goo that was on her plate. She gagged a bit and set the plate on the counter. Choosing her options, she walked over to the crowd and shoved her way through until she was seated next to Jane and Wayne, and in front of Cho.

"And then the last of the Jack robbers helped them clear out the house and run away from the police." Jane said removing the top card off the deck to show the fourth Jack. Everyone laughed and applauded delightfully, and the crowd grew smaller, as more people went back to eat their foul breakfast.

"Would you stop the tricks for a little while so we can do something important?" Grace asked suddenly growing angry at Jane's childish games.

"Like what?" he asked teasingly.

"Like find out who murdered Stacey?" Grace yelled, losing her senses completely. She didn't understand how one person could have no feelings for anyone around them whatsoever.

"I'm sorry, you're right. Don't worry, we will find out who killed her." He said thoughtfully this time.

Grace smiled at him kindly, appreciating how he was trying to hold back his usual remarks just to make her feel better. Wayne sat in silence, not wanting to say something as well to upset Grace. Instead they shared a glance, which they both felt comfort from. Cho sat silently observing everyone. He snorted, slightly shaking his head, and continued reading his book. Lisbon appeared out of the blue, drinking a stinky cup of coffee. She wiggled her nose, as the odor of the coffee reached her face. Coughing slightly, she took her seat in the empty chair, and sat in silence as everyone around her did as well.

"Are there any new leads?" Cho asked Lisbon.

"They found the gun that was used to kill Stacey in a dumpster in the city. No prints, and the gun doesn't belong to anyone, they wiped it clean."

"Do we have any new suspects?"

"Nope, this case looks like a dead end. The office needs us back, and I'm sorry Van Pelt, but they gave us a week to wrap up the case."

Grace's nose flared, her eyes brimming with tears. By the looks of it, they wouldn't even be close to finishing the case in only one week. Her heart sank as she thought about Stacey's murderer roaming the streets, ready to kill another innocent person.

"Well what about Derek's wife?" Jane asked.

Everyone stared at him in confusion.

"What you guys didn't notice? Come on, even Rigsby should have seen this. She changed the subject when I asked her name, she's awfully beautiful, and she has the makings of a con woman."

"What? Daisy? No way, she and Derek have been married for ten years." Grace said.

"Daisy, huh, clearly not her real name. But seriously, how did Derek get a chick like that?" Jane said.

"Derek is a charming guy, and a great person."

"Could be, but he's boring as hell." Jane said, forgetting how nicely he had just treated Grace, but going back to his rude ways.

"Well Daisy would never do something like that; I mean she has two kids with him that she loves. Why would she be a con woman, when she has a family that she loves?"

"Silly Grace, it's all a show. Real and professional con people don't have any feelings."

"What like you?" Lisbon added.

"Oh Lisbon, your just a hoot today aren't you." Jane said.

"Shut it." She said ending their little conversation.

"Can we just check her out, and if I'm wrong, then I will give each of you one hundred dollars." Jane said.

"You're so sure? Fine by me, I won't be losing anything." Rigsby said.

Grace began to protest but Lisbon cut her off.

"Let's go, I could use something to rub in your face." She said.

"Okay, but when you're all wrong, I'll be the one who does the laughing." Jane said following them.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Sorry for not updating for so long. Been busy! Keep on reviewing, they're the main thing that keep me going.

Chapter 14:

"Okay how are we going to do this?" Cho asked reloading his .40 caliber. He tucked it smoothly into his side pocket and starting putting on the bullet proof vest.

"Wait a minute. We're just going in to talk to Daisy, it's not like were going to knock down her door and arrest her. Put those vests away." Grace said grabbing Cho's vest and setting it back in the car.

"Excuse me Van Pelt, but I'm the one who gives orders around here." Lisbon said in a furry tone.

"Yes boss." Grace whispered grabbing her badge from the side pocket of the car.

"Now here's what we're going to do. We will knock politely on the door, and ask Daisy some questions. I doubt she'll know anything, so we'll do this quickly." Lisbon started to walk towards the door with everyone behind her. The house was larger than anyone of them had ever imagined it. The oval windows were made of clear glass that showed many different art pieces hung inside the house. The French doors were accented by gold paint that circled them. No one had answered the gate, so they let themselves in easily, but if no one were to open the door, that would be a different matter. Jane knew what would happen when they entered the house, but left it a surprise for the rest of the team. He now chewed hungrily on a bright red apple, one hand in his right pocket pants. The sun shone in his bright blue eyes as he tried to focus them onto the top part of the house.

Rigsby knocked loudly on the door and awaited for Daisy's arrival. Everything was quiet. The street was vacant from cars, and the house gave no sound from the inside. They all stood waiting, but getting nothing in return. Jane moved to the window that was placed next to the door, and squinted inside to get a look into the house. He smiled a bit and moved back quickly.

"Rigsby, count till five and knock down the door." Jane said taking another large bite of his apple.

"What, Jane are you completely mad?" Grace said.

"Yeah seriously, we have no reason to knock down her door." Rigsby said agreeing with Grace.

"Rigsby just do as I say and count to five." Jane said seriously.

Everyone could hear Rigsby silently counting, and finally knocking down the door with his size eleven feet. They all pointed there guns straight ahead (except for Jane) and checked each room for Daisy.

"Clear." Grace said walking in from the kitchen.

"Same here." Cho said walking back into the main hall.

"Uh, Lisbon go outside and tell me what you see." Jane said making his way to the backyard. Lisbon ran passed him and stood looking around the enormous yard that surrounded them.

"There's nothing here Jane. Hightower is going to be pissed when she hears that we knocked down the door of an innocent citizen."

"Who do you see running over there?" Jane said pointing to his right.

Lisbon looked, and her face grew a shade paler as she began to run towards Daisy, her gun raised before her.

"Daisy Van Pelt, CBI" Lisbon yelled as she raced after Daisy who was running even faster away from her.

Rigsby walked outside and looked at the crazed Lisbon sprinting across the yard.

"She's chasing Daisy." Jane said not waiting for Rigsby's question.

Grace sat in the dining room table her head resting on her hands. She closed her eyes, trying to make everything that was happening go away. Why would Daisy run away if she were innocent? But she wasn't, and she should have seen it sooner. She should have warned Derek about her and prevented them from ever getting married. How could someone do this to their own children? Grace didn't understand it and she knew she never would.

"How about a massage?" Wayne said rubbing Grace's shoulders. She sighed and rolled her head around letting him pamper her. Just the feel of Wayne next to her made her pulse slow down. She turned her head and kissed his hand, smiling up to his happy face. He leaned slowly to kiss her when someone threw open the door and walked inside. They drew apart quickly but looked at each other with a sudden spark of amusement and excitement.

"I'll be out of your way." The embarrassed officer said. Wayne and Grace laughed as they made there way to meet the rest of the team outside. Lisbon was sitting in one of the lawn chairs, trying to stop the sweat from dripping down her forehead. All the officers and crime scene came to get a statement from Lisbon, and find anything that could link Daisy to Stacey's murder.

"Agent Lisbon, we need to get the statement from you now." Said a young and nervous police officer.

"Try not to twitch too much. The last officer who did ended up with three broken bones." Jane whispered into his ear. The officer looked at him with a face of horror, and sat down in front of Lisbon. As she answered his questions, he wrote them down on a small notepad. He tried to hold down his arm as to not twitch, and Jane looked at him with amusement.

"Were did the suspect go after you couldn't reach her?"

"In there." Lisbon said pointing to the forest that led on for fifty miles.

"She ran into the forest."


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Added some Jibson for Eternal Darkness007, but don't worry, I'll make sure Rigspelt is in as well! Enjoy and please review!

Chapter 15:

Lisbon's POV:

The automatic doors parted as we entered the lobby of the hotel. People were swarming everywhere trying to get in and out of the hotel quickly. My head spun as I felt myself growing weaker by the second. The duffel bag in my right hand made me sway slightly as I walked to the elevator. Rigsby and Van Pelt had their backs turned to me, and seemed to be talking, but trying to make sure it wasn't noticeable. Cho took a seat in one of the couches and closed his eyes, obviously feeling the same as me. As I saw Jane look around, I pressed the button to the fourth floor as quickly as possible. The doors began to close, but of course he managed to open them and get in before they shut.

"Thought you could get rid of me that quickly, huh Lisbon?" He said smirking.

I tried my best to ignore his snobbish remarks but being in such a closed space with him didn't help. He finally quieted down, and a silence spread in the elevator. I could hear his even breath besides me, and his hand almost two inches from mine. I had a sudden urge to reach over and hold his hand in mine, but I pushed that thought away. How could I even think about Jane like that? My mind swirled as I began to question myself and the way I have been acting when the doors opened and I walked out briskly. Almost running, I got to my room, only to feel a presence besides me. I looked to my side and saw Jane standing next to me staring at the door.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Oh, I um needed to um get to my room." He said fumbling with his card and trying to slide it through.

"Isn't your room down that hall?" I said pointing to the other side of the floor.

"Oh, ya thanks Lisbon." He said walking away. He turned around and flashed me a smile, bumping into a man on the way. I chuckled quietly and slid the card into my room.

(On the third floor)

Wayne's POV:

Our bodies slammed hard against the wall as we slowly made our way to the bedroom. My hands were on her waist, my lips locked to hers. The smell of violets filled my noise as her hair swept onto my face. I laughed as I tried to unbutton her shirt which seemed near to impossible. Grace chuckled as well as she started to take off my belt. We began to kiss again when Grace's phone rang. At first she ignored it, but then she answered, worried it would be something important.

"Hello?" Grace said a little out of breath.

"Oh hi boss." She said making a face and getting off the bed. I threw myself face down on the bed and screamed into the pillows. Grace came around to my side and hit me playfully while answering Lisbon's questions. I could never catch a break. Every time Grace and I tried to have one night together something always got in the way. I knew coming to meet her family wouldn't give us so many opportunities, but I thought it would be a little more than what we had now. Why couldn't Lisbon have called Cho? Why Grace right when we were finally alone together? I screamed again into the blankets and hit my fist on the bed. Grace grew annoyed and moved into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

The minutes passed slowly, but after ten minutes Grace walked out of the bathroom and sat next to me on the bed.

"What did she want?" I mumbled into the bed. My eyes slowly began to close as I grew wearier.

"She wanted to talk about the case for a little bit." Grace whispered.

I turned and saw her eyes slightly red. She had pulled back her hair into a messy bun, and changed into pajamas. I moved over and patted the side of the bed next to mine. She slid onto it and moved her legs to her stomach, holding herself like a ball.

"You okay?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah, I will be. This case is just so awful."

"I know, but it will be over soon, I promise."

Grace smiled weakly and moved until her lips were on mine.

"Do you mind if we just go to sleep, I'm really tired?"

"Yeah of course, me too." I said. Grace turned to the other side and pulled the blanket on top of her. I pulled her towards me and held her until we both fell asleep.

(On the fourth floor)

Lisbon's POV:

The warm water trickled onto my body and I sighed as I finally got some relaxation. The muscles I had pulled while running began to loosen as I stood and felt the water on my back. I opened the cap of the small shampoo bottle and began washing my hair ferociously. I closed my eyes, not wanting the shampoo to get into my eyes when I heard a knock on the door.

"One second." I said angrily as I turned the water off. I grabbed the hotel towel and wrapped it around me. The shampoo in my hair hadn't all washed away, and little drops of water dripped from my hair and body.

"This better be good." I mumbled as I looked into the peephole. There standing in the hall was Jane making funny faces into the door. I sighed and opened the door so he could only see my face.

"What do you want?" I asked. I could feel little drops of shampoo fall onto my face, and I wiped it off annoyingly.

"Just wanted to talk, couldn't sleep. Do you mind if I come in?" He asked a little too eagerly.

"Well I was in the middle of a shower, so you can wait out here until I finish."

"Anything me lady." Jane said curtsying. I slammed the door shut, but chuckled as I went back to finish my shower.

When I had took my time to finish my shower I opened the door to let Jane inside. He was sitting next to my door with his head in his hands. At first I wasn't sure if he fell asleep, but then he turned and stood as he saw me.

"Now may I come in?" He asked stepping into the room before I could give him a reply.

"Guess so." I mumbled as I opened the mini fridge.

"You want something to drink?" I asked only out of politeness.

"Is there any way to make some tea?"

"No."

"Nothing then."

He walked around the bed a few times, studying the bed side tables and my things that were on it. Then, he walked into the bathroom and picked through drawers, obviously unaware of me.

"You don't mind do you?" He asked lifting up a pair of my underwear.

"Jeez, keep your hands to yourself!" I yelled grabbing my underwear out of his hands. He laughed at my furious face, and went to sit on the foldable couch.

"Would you like to see some television?" Jane said. I looked at him now, but really looked at him. His clothes were crumpled as if he had worn them every day. There were big dark bags under his eyes, which took the attention to all his face. His usual perfect curls were now uneven and too messy than usual. I started to worry, something I never did about Jane.

"Are you okay?" I asked sincerely.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be? Do you want to watch TV or not?"

"Um, I don't mind." I whispered and sat on the bed.

"So, why are you here?" I asked after a ten minute cartoon show had ended.

"Just couldn't sleep." He answered immediately.

"Are you sure?" I asked making a bold move and sitting beside him on the couch. I wondered were this side of me had come from. I'm never this kind or thoughtful to other people, especially Jane. But something about him made me want to wrap my arms around him and tell him everything would be alright.

"Lisbon are you feeling okay? Why so nice all of a sudden?" He inquired.

"I don't know." I said slouching a bit on the couch. The room grew quiet and I felt like something was drawing me closer to him, as if we were magnets being pulled together. I turned my head slightly, only to see his turned as well and staring at me. We didn't move. His hot breathe blew onto my face, and I breathed in his sweet smell. He stared at me like I had never seen him do before. Our heads so close together, if I would just move a little closer-

"Room service." Yelled someone at the door. We both drew in a long breath and moved away from each other as quickly as possible. I stood and almost sprinted to the door, were a man in a hotel uniform stood with an envelope in his hand.

"Teresa Lisbon?" He asked.

"Yes."

"This was delivered to you."

"Thank you." I closed the door and turned back to were Jane paced in the bedroom.

"Who's the letter from?" He asked standing still.

"Doesn't say."

"Well open it."

I ripped open the envelope and took out a small piece of paper.

"What does it say?" Jane asked looking curious.

"Watch your back CBI."


	16. Chapter 16

Hey guys!

Sorry I haven't written in a long time, it's just that since The Mentalist won't start again until the fall, I haven't gotten a lot of inspiration for the rest of my story. I'm thinking about starting a different one, but maybe not about The Mentalist. I hope you'll understand. Also, if I do get a sudden urge to write something or continue the story I will!


End file.
